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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Coconut Oatmeal Muffins

A bowl of oatmeal is a good way to start the day. A muffin is a convenient way to start the day. Putting oatmeal into a muffin is bringing together the best of both worlds – or, at least, that is a very convenient way to justify having two of these tasty Coconut Oatmeal Muffins for breakfast before finishing that first cup of coffee. They’re inspired by oatmeal cookies, and you’ll find toasty oats, sweet coconut, butter, vanilla and cinnamon in every bite.

The muffins are slightly dense, since they are packed with so much good stuff, but they’re still fluffy and very tender, not heavy. They have a lot of shredded coconut in them. Fortunately, coconut is not an aggressive flavor, so it blends easily with the cinnamon, vanilla and other ingredients without overpowering them. You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut in these muffins, depending on your personal preference (I prefer sweetened) and what you have on hand. Toasted coconut will work, but I actually prefer untoasted coconut because it brings a little bit of additional moisture to the muffins and helps keep them soft and fresh, even a day or so after baking.

These muffins are delicious on their own and they are also very good when served, slightly warm, with butter. They are best on the day they are made, but they can be stored in an airtight container for two or three days if necessary. If you are not planning to eat the whole batch at once, wrap them individually and freeze them, so you will have some on hand to snack on at a later date.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Stir in shredded coconut.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in egg mixture. Stir until the wet ingredients are almost fully combined and only a few streaks of flour remain.

Pour in the melted butter and stir until butter is completely incorporated and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

Divide evenly into prepared muffin pan (muffin cups will be very full).

Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12.

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